{"id":18293518,"date":"2026-08-30T23:15:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T21:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/old-666-jay-zeamer-b17-medal-of-honor\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T08:45:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T06:45:32","slug":"old-666-jay-zeamer-b17-medal-of-honor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/old-666-jay-zeamer-b17-medal-of-honor\/","title":{"rendered":"Old 666: Jay Zeamer&#8217;s B-17 and the Most Decorated US Air Crew"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\n\n<style>\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid #0F1720;background:#fff;color:#0F1720;font-family:inherit;font-size:14px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;letter-spacing:0;text-transform:none;cursor:pointer;box-shadow:none;transition:background .15s,color 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What his crew flew home from is one of the most extraordinary air actions of the Second World War.<\/p>\r\n<p>Two Medals of Honor. A Distinguished Service Cross for every other man aboard. No single American air mission has ever been decorated so heavily.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px 24px;margin:24px 0;border-radius:8px;font-size:15px;line-height:1.8\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Boeing B-17E, serial 41-2666 (&ldquo;Old 666&rdquo; \/ &ldquo;Lucy&rdquo;), 65th BS \/ 43rd Bomb Group<br><strong>Mission:<\/strong> 16 June 1943, solo photo-mapping of Bougainville and reconnaissance of Buka<br><strong>Pilot:<\/strong> Capt. (later Lt Col) Jay Zeamer Jr.; bombardier: 2nd Lt Joseph Sarnoski (killed in action)<br><strong>Damage:<\/strong> five 20 mm cannon hits and 187 bullet holes; a running fight of roughly 40 minutes<br><strong>Decorations:<\/strong> 2 Medals of Honor (Zeamer; Sarnoski posthumous) plus a DSC for every other crewman<br><strong>Distinction:<\/strong> the most highly decorated single air mission in US history<\/div>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The plane nobody wanted, the crew nobody could fault<\/h2>\r\n<p>B-17E serial 41-2666 was built in early 1942 and shuttled through bomb groups, picking up damage and a reputation as a jinx. By May 1943 it had landed with the 65th Bombardment Squadron at Port Moresby, New Guinea. Captain Jay Zeamer &mdash; an engineer who had struggled to check out as a first pilot but volunteered relentlessly &mdash; claimed the derelict for his own hand-picked crew, the self-styled &ldquo;Eager Beavers.&rdquo;<\/p>\r\n<p>They stripped weight, fitted new engines for speed, and bristled the aircraft with heavy machine guns &mdash; contemporary records credit it with sixteen active .50-calibre guns. Two days before their last mission, Zeamer officially named the Fortress &ldquo;Lucy.&rdquo; But to the crew it was always &ldquo;666.&rdquo;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/eager-beaver-crew-old-666.jpg\" alt=\"Eager Beaver crew of Old 666\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Zeamer&rsquo;s &ldquo;Eager Beavers&rdquo; &mdash; the most decorated air crew in US history. Photo: USAAF.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">16 June 1943: the run over Bougainville<\/h2>\r\n<p>The mission was daunting on its own: a solo B-17, some 600 miles over open ocean, to photo-map the west coast of Bougainville ahead of planned Allied landings. Accurate mapping demanded a long, dead-straight, level run of around 22 minutes over hostile territory. Zeamer twice refused orders to add a reconnaissance of the Japanese airfield at Buka, judging it too likely to trigger interception. Arriving early, he put the Buka question to his crew; they voted to do it.<\/p>\r\n<p>Unknown to Allied intelligence, the Japanese had just moved hundreds of fighters into the area. Near the end of the mapping run, Zeros &mdash; plus a twin-engine fighter &mdash; hit Old 666 in a coordinated pass from below and front, denying Zeamer his usual defensive turn.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;I think he didn&rsquo;t feel he deserved it. He was so close to his bombardier and he felt terrible about his being killed.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Barbara Zeamer<\/strong> &mdash; widow of Jay Zeamer, in his 2007 obituary (Associated Press \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/73jtYd7dmSw\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Sarnoski&rsquo;s guns and Zeamer&rsquo;s shattered legs<\/h2>\r\n<p>The first pass was devastating. Bombardier 2nd Lt Joseph Sarnoski, firing the nose guns, was blown out of the nose compartment by a 20 mm shell, horribly wounded. He dragged himself back to his gun and drove off the attacking twin-engine fighter before collapsing at his post, where he died. In the cockpit, cannon shells destroyed Zeamer&rsquo;s instrument panel and rudder pedals and broke his left leg above and below the knee, with shrapnel wounds to both arms and his other leg.<\/p>\r\n<p>Bleeding and slipping in and out of consciousness, Zeamer fought a running battle of roughly forty minutes, repeatedly banking into the Zeros&rsquo; firing lines so his gunners could fire back, until the enemy broke off. Too badly hurt to reach Port Moresby over the mountains, the crew nursed the Fortress to an emergency landing at Dobodura. Old 666 had taken five 20 mm hits and 187 bullet holes.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/08\/capt-jay-zeamer.jpg\" alt=\"Captain Jay Zeamer\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Capt. Jay Zeamer Jr., who flew the mission with a broken leg and won the Medal of Honor. Photo: US Air Force.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;Despite the certainty of a dangerous attack by this strong force, Major Zeamer proceeded with his mapping run, even after the enemy attack began.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>United States Army<\/strong> &mdash; Jay Zeamer Medal of Honor citation, 1944<\/div><\/div>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Two Medals of Honor &mdash; honestly counted<\/h2>\r\n<p>Zeamer received the Medal of Honor from General Henry H. Arnold in January 1944; Sarnoski&rsquo;s was awarded posthumously. Every other member of the crew received the Distinguished Service Cross &mdash; making this the most highly decorated single air mission in American history. It is the only WWII action in which two men of one bomber crew each earned the Medal of Honor.<\/p>\r\n<p>One honest footnote the best histories keep: the crew claimed five Zeros shot down, but surviving Japanese records show none lost to gunfire in the fight &mdash; a reminder that combat claims and enemy records rarely match. Zeamer survived fifteen months of recovery, became an aerospace engineer, and died in 2007 aged 88, the last living Medal of Honor recipient of the US Army Air Forces.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-ciALoT8PvM\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rASfsnVasDU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n<p style=\"font-size:14px;color:#777\"><em>Sources: Wikipedia; Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine (John L. Frisbee), &ldquo;Valor: Battle Over Bougainville&rdquo;; Zeamer&rsquo;s Eager Beavers research archive; Drury &amp; Clavin, &ldquo;Lucky 666&rdquo; (2016); Associated Press \/ Los Angeles Times obituary (2007).<\/em><\/p>\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\n\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\n\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\n\r\n\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\n\n\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What was Old 666?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">A Boeing B-17E, serial 41-2666, of the 65th Bombardment Squadron, 43rd Bomb Group. It was a hard-luck aircraft nobody wanted, passed from unit to unit collecting damage and a reputation as a jinx, until Captain Jay Zeamer requisitioned the wreck and rebuilt it into a heavily armed private gunship.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What happened on the 16 June 1943 mission?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Zeamer and his crew flew Old 666 alone, deep into Japanese airspace, to photo-map the beaches of Bougainville and reconnoitre Buka. They were intercepted and fought a running battle of roughly forty minutes, taking five 20 mm cannon hits and 187 bullet holes, and completed the photo run before flying home.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why is this the most decorated air mission in US history?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Because it produced two Medals of Honor &mdash; to Zeamer and, posthumously, to bombardier 2nd Lieutenant Joseph Sarnoski &mdash; plus a Distinguished Service Cross for every other man aboard. No single American air mission has ever been decorated so heavily.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why was the aircraft called Old 666?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">From the last three digits of its serial number, 41-2666. It was also known as Lucy.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What made Old 666 different from a standard B-17?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Zeamer and his crew rebuilt it as a private gunship, adding extra machine guns well beyond the standard fit, which is a large part of why the aircraft survived a forty-minute running fight alone against fighters.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was Old 666?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A Boeing B-17E, serial 41-2666, of the 65th Bombardment Squadron, 43rd Bomb Group. It was a hard-luck aircraft nobody wanted, passed from unit to unit collecting damage and a reputation as a jinx, until Captain Jay Zeamer requisitioned the wreck and rebuilt it into a heavily armed private gunship.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What happened on the 16 June 1943 mission?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Zeamer and his crew flew Old 666 alone, deep into Japanese airspace, to photo-map the beaches of Bougainville and reconnoitre Buka. They were intercepted and fought a running battle of roughly forty minutes, taking five 20 mm cannon hits and 187 bullet holes, and completed the photo run before flying home.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why is this the most decorated air mission in US history?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Because it produced two Medals of Honor \u2014 to Zeamer and, posthumously, to bombardier 2nd Lieutenant Joseph Sarnoski \u2014 plus a Distinguished Service Cross for every other man aboard. No single American air mission has ever been decorated so heavily.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why was the aircraft called Old 666?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"From the last three digits of its serial number, 41-2666. It was also known as Lucy.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What made Old 666 different from a standard B-17?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Zeamer and his crew rebuilt it as a private gunship, adding extra machine guns well beyond the standard fit, which is a large part of why the aircraft survived a forty-minute running fight alone against fighters.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/franz-stigler-charlie-brown-b-17-mercy-1943\/\">He Couldn&rsquo;t Shoot Them Down<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/black-thursday-over-schweinfurt-the-b-17-raid-that-nearly-broke-the-eighth-air-force\/\">Black Thursday Over Schweinfurt<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story It was a hard-luck bomber nobody wanted &mdash; a battered B-17E scarred by oddball accidents and passed from unit to unit until its tail number gave it a new name: Old 666. A misfit pilot named Jay Zeamer requisitioned the wreck, rebuilt it into a private gunship, and on 16 June 1943 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":18293458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18293518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Old 666: Jay Zeamer&#039;s B-17 and the Most Decorated US Air Crew | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Old 666: Jay Zeamer&#039;s patched-up B-17 flew a lone recon over Bougainville in 1943 and earned two Medals of Honor and a wall of crosses.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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